Vegans who abide by a gluten-free diet are a lot more common than you would expect. In fact, gluten-free veganism is actually the preferred diet recommended by doctors for patients being treated for a number of autoimmune conditions, including Crohn's Disease, Rheumatoid Arthritis, and Systemic Lupus. While both diets are restricting on their own, combining the two still allows you to eat a wide variety of foods with plenty of simple substitution options.

The following recipe is a base recipe for vegan and gluten-free vanilla cupcakes. Feel free to use this recipe however you would like, including extra ingredients to create some fun and delicious cupcakes at home! When you're hunting for these 'specialty' flours, like tapioca, white rice, and quinoa, look out for Bob's Red Mill brand. It is sold at most natural food stores and is probably the most common.

Vegan & Gluten-Free Cupcakes

(Makes 12 cupcakes)

[Note: This recipe will make vanilla cupcakes. For chocolate cupcakes, make the same recipe except with an additional 1/3 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder.]

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup soy milk

1/3 cup canola oil

3/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1/4 cup tapioca flour

2 tablespoons ground flax seed

1/3 cup corn flour (NOT corn meal!) or 1/3 cup almond flour

1/2 cup while rice flour

1/2 cup quinoa flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS:

1) Preheat oven to 350F and line muffin tray with cupcake liners.

2) In a large mixing bowl, combine soy milk, canola oil, sugar and extracts. Mix with an electric mixer on medium speed just to combine. Add tapioca flour and flax seed and mix vigorously for about a minute, until the tapioca flour is dissolved and the mixture is well emulsified.

3) Add the corn flour, white rice flour, quinoa flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix on medium-high for about 2 minutes. It's important to mix really well and you don't have to worry about overmixing because, hey, there's no gluten!

4) Fill cupcake liners a little over three-quarters full, these won't rise as much as traditional cupcakes so you can fill them a little more than usual.

5) Bake for 20 to 23 minutes, untl a toothpick or knife inserted through the center comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely before frosting.